Luis Enrique the missing link

Shortly after Sir Bobby Robson had moved upstairs to make way for Louis van Gaal at Barcelona, a journalist friend of mine took his son to the Camp Nou as an 18th-birthday treat. As well as match tickets, a meeting was arranged with Robson, who, typically, made the lad more than welcome. "Who's your favourite among the players here?" he asked, no doubt expecting the answer to be Rivaldo or some such superstar.

"Luis Enrique," replied my friend's son. Robson beamed and stretched out a respectful hand. "Luis Enrique," he said, "can play right side at the back, left side at the back, right midfield, left midfield, central midfield - up front if you like. He can play anywhere. He's fantastic. And I got him for free!" At this point Robson's grin acquired a hint of mischief. "From Real Madrid."

And under whom did Luis Enrique play for some of his time at Real Madrid? None other than Raddy Antic, now in charge of the Barcelona team who will visit Robson's Tyneside domain on Tuesday for a match Newcastle must win to have any chance of staying in the Champions League. So on a personal level the coaches of both sides will be sorry that Luis Enrique is still an estimated six weeks away from full recovery from a leg-muscle injury.

The sole survivor from the side Robson handed over to Van Gaal, he is nearly 32 but remains, when available, very much the heartbeat of the team; his absence was a factor often mentioned during Barcelona's recent flirtation with the relegation zone. Given that all this reflects so well on the judgment of my friend's son, I suspect this may have something to do with his reminding me of the story.